ASTRAL DOORS CONFIRM NORTH AMERICAN RELEASE DATE OF JANUARY 31st 2012 FOR “JERUSALEM”

Formed in Borlänge in 2002, accomplished the all but accomplishable: delighting Power Metal fans and traditionalists alike. Simultaneously, the sound’s unmistakable kinship to Dio-fronted Rainbow and Dio/Martin-fronted Black Sabbath earned ASTRAL DOORS momentum with old-school metalheads who frowned at the perceived blandness and lack of substance in the Power Metal genre.

The debut “Of the Son and the Father” arrived in 2003 to immense critical fanfare, although the crucified priests on the cover succumbed to censorship in Japan where the album was also rechristened (!) “Cloudbreaker”. In the following years, ASTRAL DOORS shrewdly made it impossible for the audience to forget them by bombarding said audience with new releases, one more breathtaking than the other: “Evil Is Forever” (2005), “Raiders of the Ark EP” (2005) and “Astralism” (2006). The band also performed at the perennial Wacken and Sweden Rock Festivals, and did tours with Grave Digger and Blind Guardian – the latter with particular suc-cess.

Sadly, the delightfully Power Metal-laden “New Revelation” (2007) did not lead to ASTRAL DOORS expected big break. The album met with rave reviews, but the band somewhat prematurely ventured their own headline tour, preaching to a still comparatively small choir. Album sales were satisfactory but hardly overwhelming. “Requiem of Time” in January 2010 – introducing new bassist Ulf Lagerström – saw the band gracefully back on track.

ASTRAL DOORS upcoming album, “Jerusalem”, shows the band at its very, very best. With world famous producer Daniel Bergstrand behind the mixing board, their classic rock/heavy metal is brought to new dimensions. “Jerusalem” is by far the best album so far from ASTRAL DOORS and the concept of the lyrics is darker, more political and more provocative than ever before in the history of the band.

The amazing cover artwork has once again been done by Mattias Eriksson who also did “Of the Son and the Father” and “Testament of Rock”.